04 April 2012

During his time at Liverpool football club, Rafa Benitez did two things that guaranteed eternal adulation from the club's fans: He brought goalscoring legend Robbie Fowler back in 2006, and then he pushed for the return of Reds legend Kenny Dalglish. Out of respect, Benitez has resisted being critical of Dalglish's current stint at Anfield, but recently, his opinions on the subject have become a little more forthright, especially on the subject of transfer funds.

Speaking to the BBC last week, Benitez - who has admitted several times that he hopes to return to Anfield one day - conceded that Liverpool was a 'team in transition', but added that after spending 'big money', the club's premier league results 'have to improve'.

In an interview with FIFA.com few days ago, Benitez was asked whether Daglish could achieve the same success as he did at the club. In previous interviews, the Spaniard has lavished praise on Dalglish and his ability to bring success to Liverpool, but this time, he was a little more non-committal:

"It depends if he has the support of the owners. They have spent a lot of money but can they continue spending big money? I don’t know.

"If you want to challenge against Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal, Manchester City and Tottenham, you have to have a very good plan and keep spending some money wisely".

Implicit in Benitez's response is (IMO) the suggestion that FSG may not be willing to 'continue spending big money' as a result of Dalglish's failure to spend his transfer funds 'wisely'.

Benitez will tell anyone who'll listen about the problems he had with the Owners during his time at Liverpool, but as I argued yesterday, FSG support for Dalglish may not be as strong as people might think.

Benitez also admitted that he 'had to' leave Liverpool, but expressed regret at not being able to work with the current owners:

"With the money they have spent and the squad that we had, we could have been even better".

As much as I'm a major critic of Benitez, I'm confident that if he'd stayed at the Anfield, he would've spent FSG's money in a much more effective manner. Having said that, in the BBC interview referenced above, Benitez admits that he also wanted to sign Andy Carroll, so it's by no means a foregone conclusion (!)

128 comments:

Benitez wanted Carroll!!!? He is the most opposite player to what Benitez wanted out of his players, intelligence. I think if the board stick with Dalglish it can't be half-hearted. He would need the same level of finance as any other manager in the hot seat. The club would also have to be ruthless with current players and I'm not on about the Henderson's, Carroll's as they are still very young. We have a plethora of youngsters coming through that are being blocked by the likes of Aurelio, Adam, Downing, Rodriguez (although I like him, if he's going to be sitting on the bench what good is he?) and Kuyt.

do you know rafa only spent £63 mil (not including the money from LFC player sales) during his 6 years and he was only given roughly £10-15 mil a year to spend on players. Who can you buy with that much money? kenny is a LFC legend but he has has £110 mil lets take out £65 mil (£50 mil or torres £15 for raul) so in one yea he has sent roughtly about £45 mil :| we bout if i remba right 3 signings downing carrol and henderson if he just gave the whole amount and bought someone like Aguero he would have scored roughly about 10-15 goals more then the 34 players combined. :( i dnt see why we cannot by players like aguero rather then players like henderson. I know we not in champoions league but some players that are World class do want to come to LFC its an amazing club.

hzr berisha......I suggest that you go back, and do some research, on Benitez, for your info, Rafa never had to £120 to waste, in one go.

Rafa, most of the time had to sell, before he bought, and when he did have some funds he went, for the likes of Torres, Alonso, Mascherno to mention a few. The average players he brought in were on a free or for little money, and these players were sold at a profit, AFTER giving there best years to Liverpool!.

Can you tell us, what profit (or LOSS), we will get, for Carrollm Adam, Henderson and Downing?, if we can sell them, that is!!!.

Some players want to come to Liverpool because of its high profile, to use it as a stepping stone, it isn't competing at the top level anymore and now the trend is not to get into Champions League places ..Players like Suarez wont stay.. even Gerrard wanted to go to Chelsea a few years back ..you cant blame Torres for going then!

Benitez wanted Carroll when he was in reserves surely he wouldn't have paid anything close to 35m. Benitez got most of his big money signings right, except for Keane but he wanted Barry to work with him which he never got.

all true but you talk like that because you feel hopeless now and you think if we take rafa back he will save us, right now im sure you would take anyone ahead of kenny to manage this club, thats why you're on rafa's side now, or did you both forget im sure you wanted him out 2 years ago like many others we all wanted him out because he was doing too bad and we didnt defend him by saying he didnt have much money to spend etc. we just wanted him out and what now? now that we saw that he might be better than kenny we all forgive him and want him back but you should never deny the facts hes made many mistakes here same as roy and kenny more or less, rafa is gone its over he had his days here didnt do much despite anything but he was not good enough, so why taking him back, better look for other options, Id say.

5-6 Spot on....Are you having a laugh...!!! Reina, Agger, Arbeloa, Alonso, Mascherano, Torres, Luis Garcia, Kuyt, Yossi, Lucas, Skrtel and Glen Johnson....!!! That's a whole first team....and also just for starters...you can also talk about the Youth System he set up which looks to be hopefully producing youngsters for some time to come....so of your 100 players how many were signed for the first team...not even half that amount....!!!

@ hzr berisha.... You have lost the plot. Rafa bought great players... most were sold for a profit or substantially increased in value... Torres, Alonso, Mascharano, Agger, Reina, Skrtel, Sissoko, Bellamy, Bennayoun, Arbeloa, Lucas, Crouch.... There were a few decents ones.... i.e. Riera, Garcia and a few duds like Morientes, Dossena, Josemi, Gonzales, Kromkamp etc but overall his players were very good. Had been given the money we would also signed the likes of Vidic, Jovetic, Dani Alves, David Silva amongst others.... but we had Prick Parry doing the deals and the owners being awkward... Rafa is a fantastic tactitian and got a good eye for a player too... what he is crap at is man managing and that is what Dalglish is great at.... Bring Rafa back and make Dalglish the Asst Manager..... Both passionate about Liverpool and a dream team too.... YNWA

ha!! do you mean the likes of babel,morientes, gonzalez, Pennant, robbie keane, Degen, Dossena,Vorinin?? there were plenty more than that!!you say that Rafa, had to sell, didn't we also sell?? so kenny could spend that amount of money??

reina? how many pens did he save since hes with us? not a single one not even on carling cup final they all missed them by shooting wide reina didnt touch a ball. Agger, how much time he spends on sidelines? how many months can he stay fit? arbeloa? what? was he class? cmon, luis garcia ? nothing special his speed was 0.0 lucas? did you know lucas was named in his first 2 years lfcs worst player of season? and finally johnson? are you joking or wtf??!

Benitez would have brought quality players to Liverpool if he had the chance to work with these present owners. We would definitely have been in one of the top four positions. Dalglish's obsession with British players has cost us dearly.

Benitez is a vile traitor. When He struggled in 7th place during his last season in charge, Kenny came out to protect his position in any possible shape or form. This last interview shows a total lack of respect for a colleague. I used to respect Rafa, but now I lost any respect for the man. Shame on You, Benitez. The man lacks of class.

are you mental?? i hate people, with ridiculous comments, such as yourself!! if we'd of bought someone like Aguero, for the whole amount?? you tell me?>? where we gonna get a world class player from, who gonna join us with no champs league?? and no rediculous amounts of money, to pay 200k plus wages with?? who are these world class players, you speak of ?? who are very willing to come play for us?? we bought them three players, cus we need to strenghen our squad, which we have done, we needed a left winger, a striker, downing hasn't been as bad, as everyone makes out!! he started his LFC carrerr oiff pretty well, then his form dipped, he struggled, he aint been to bad of late, lets not forget, the whole team not peforming!! not just them three players!!

chill out ffs, he never said anything against kenny, he always said kenny was doing a good job, and kenny didn't spend money wisely btw he said it in general not particularly about KK so back off pour a bucket of cold water over yourself

Before going on and on about Daglish or Rafa just remember Ferguson's first six years. Results were all over the place finishing in the bottom half of the table some seasons. But despite nearly sacking him they stuck by him. Success didn't come overnight.As for Rafa why don't people mention all the work he did behind the scenes. He brought the youth coaches from Barcelona, the same ones who trained messi. All the youth he filled our academy with etc.Even the former owners did us a major service in getting rid of Moores and Rick Parry who could only maintain three commercial contracts over their time. H & G brought in Ian Ayre - a commercial genius.Kenny certainly needs results but our football overall hasn't been that bad. Not as bad as our results would suggest. It takes time at a major club like LFC to develop the sense of belonging and with it self-confidence that not just players need but more importantly teams need. Once that begins to kick in balls will stop hitting the post and even injuries will subside as players go about their business more assured.Kenny signed a two year contract, not one year. So the thing to do is get behind your team and your manager. Give them every chance of success, judgement day will come in the summer of 2013. There have been only two LFC managers I thought were complete disasters, Souness and Hodgeson. Kenny is no disaster, he must be given time and support.

When your digging for diamonds you have to sift through a lot of dirt. Rafa had us competing took chances that did not work but kept us competing and 2 points from a title plus trophy's. I would not want him back but give respect where it is due.

Get your facts straight. Rafa spent £240m over his 6 year reign (Gross spend) let alone the huge increase in salaries. Rafa's main claim to success came on the back of a team largely of Houllier's making i.e. the 2005 CL. Take off the Benitez tinted specs.

Make no mistake. this writer hates the rntire world. never had a good thing to say about Rafa when he was here. No he is using Rafa as a basis for comparison. Is that late life realization or just the sign of a lost soul i dont know!

Liverpool has never been the same since Rafa left. The team has no pattern and purpose which lead to inconsistent results. Marking and pressing are poor. Players appear not physically sustainable for long season or are just not properly trained and mentally weak. Yes liverpool seem to plays better against so called big teams but so do other mid-table teams. I am not saying Liverpool is mid-table team but the players fitness and mentality no doubt are. Rafa is definitely a world class tactician who can consistently put euro best to sword even with one hand tied by the boards. His budget then was comparable to his reign in Valencia. He is a perfectionist and a workaholic. His training is very minutes but effective, ask Torrres where positioned a foot here and there made him a scoring machine or Gerrard suddenly became 20 goals per season midfielder, etc. A coach of this quality was then sacked for one bad season under the most incompetent boards in the history of Liverpool. Every managers have good and bad signings but looking at big picture, Rafa's signings were purposeful and systematic and that is what we call progress. Maybe Kenny needs more time to piece together what he has signed so far. But players' fitness and mentality must first addressed and he must be ruthless and shows who is the boss and FSG must dictate his absolute authority to the players. Can't help but noticed Gerard has hinted at Newcastle match what is to come next, you are just like Rafa.

We won't be able to spend big, unless we sell off players for considerable fees. Apart from Torres, we didn't sell big to get the big money we spent in the last winter/summer windows. We really wasted that money, in a time where we couldn't afford to.

Jaimie, can you ever possibly accept that a net spend of, on average, 10.5m per season is a pitiful amount of money to have to spend when compared to Chelsea and Man City mega splurge in one fould swoop?

Imagine what Rafa would have done if free to spend £289m without having to sell players

He was trying to overhaul a poor squad, catch an entrenched rival - Man Utd - all on a shoestring investment of an average 10.5m per season from owners

LFC have wasted so much money! Adam,Henderson,Carroll and Downing were already playing at the highest level they were ever likely to reach before moving to LFC- these type of players do not even aspire to play at 'big' clubs like Barca',Madrid,Milan etc, there's no potential there.. If it was young and titian we were looking for then we should have made efforts for Gareth Bale ( regardless of what people say Tottenham are a selling club and IMO £35m would probably have done it ), Jack Wilshere ( Arsenal have sold most of their best players in recent years for around£20m so surely Arsene would have snapped our hands of for the money we wasted on Downing ) Daniel Sturridge and Phil Jones ( who we just gave up on when we should have battled the Mancs ).But really if we wanted quality and value for money we should have targeted the best young players in the world. Every LFC fan would love to see EDEN HAZARD in a red shirt at Anfield, but there are so many more outstanding talents- DIEGO RIBHAS, JAVI MARTINEZ, JOSIP ILICIC, IKER MUNIAIN, HERNANES, ERIK LAMELA, CHRISTIAN ERIKSEN, YANN M'VILLA, OLIVIER GIROUD, MIRALEM PJANIC, STEFAN JOVETIC, LUCAS MOURA, EVER BANEGA, GASTON RAMIREZ, EDUARDO VARGAS, KEVIN STROOTMAN etc etc the list is vast, yet all we do is dither whilst others move in and secure our targets. Just look at Tottenham, they have Bale (£6m), Modric (£16-£18m) Van de Vaart (£8m) !! Chelsea get Juan Mata (£18m), Arsenal are always picking up super deals but even Newcastle got a far better team than us and bargains too in DEMBA BA, Cisse, Hatem Ben Arfa, Tiote, Cabaye, David Santon. It was always apparent that we couldn't compete with the financial muscle of both Manc teams and Chelsea, but to think that Tottenham and Newcastle have left us trailing way behind HURTS! And it's only a matter of time before we see the likes of Sunderland and Everton permanently above us, it's a JOKE or rather I wish it was. Talking about our youth set up Ajax battered us 6-0 in the NEXTGEN series.We seriously need proper scouts,

We paid for Newcastle's transformation and they did a better job of transforming their team than we did. In fact, Kenny helped Newcastle improve their squad more while he was our manager than he did when he was their manager.

The main waste was in moving on Meireles and Aquilani for what will not be more than around 20 million and replacing them with 45 million worth of midfielders who do not create much, Adam, Downing and Henderson. The failure of those three is what has cost the club dearly this season. If those three were able to do what they were bought for, the season would have been a lot better.

Ajax thrasing us in the nextgen game was disappointing but, at that level, a few weak players make a big difference. I still think that we have 2 or 3 in that team who can come in and do a job for the first team in the future. If we can get a couple coming through, we can save ourselves money on other positions in the team, like a good defensive midfielder, a playmaker to do what Adam and Henderson clearly cannot do and another wide midfielder who can get a cross into the box. We, then, have to teach our strikers to get into decent positions in the box!

spot on michael the voice of reason fed up of reading all the crap kenny is our manager we all want success we have played some great attacking football and quite a few doddgy decisions against us outstanding keppers and the post and bar always seems to be in the way not all players fit in straight away lucas needed time now look those who dissed him love him give kenny time he will get it right even carroll might stop sulking and put in performances like he did against us he was unplayable the best things in life are worth waiting for thats not rose tinted glasses just hard work and beleif as red nose proved

It's scary how much we will lose on those 4 players. It almost makes it not worth selling them and keeping them as squad players. 80 million for squad players! Keane was a bad signing by Benitez and Aquilani was poor, considering his fitness record, but Babel, considering he was such a flop, scored a few goals for us that players like Henderson or Downing could only dream about.

Rafa signed 76 players in his time at liverpool and that includes a good many youth team and reserve team players. 26 of the players signed where imo good enough to play for LFC. 53 of the 76players signed where contracted for free or under £2 million. Get your facts right before you post. he did waste money but he also signed some class acts look at the records they are in the public domain

kenet speaks sense. has jamie ever liked any manager? did he enjoy the CL finals and dismantling of top sides or was that seen as rubbish aswel? rafa is the best manager we've had since KD the first time around, no question.

i wish we had a squad,a bit like lyon had a couple of seasons back,where the first eleven could be replaced by a reserve player and slot seemlessly in. the ability was much the same throughout the entire squad. no superstars,just a 'team'. they were consistent at home and in europe. that is the word i have not been able to include in any conversation i have,regarding lfc,for over 20 years now. 'consistent', i want to use it positively, not,as of now, and years gone by,'consistently' frustrating/annoying/mystifying or embarrassing. yes we have had good 'runs',but not.............consistently.

How many pens did Reina save since joining Liverpool, not a single one. !!! You have just shown the knowledge you have....nada...zilch....you are an armchair fan.....Have you forgotten the Gerrard FA Cup final against West Ham that went to peno's...also in his first two seasons he saved plenty of penos and is reknownend as one of the best peno savers in the business....!!! And you judge hims on one penalty shootout scenario....Pathetic. Agger does spend a lot of time on the sidelines admittedely but he has certainly paid back the 6 mill that he cost and some. Arbeloa....hhhmmm just holding down a position in one of the two best sides in the world at present and also at his time at Liverpool kept the now best player in the world Lionel Messi quiet every time he faced him...so class...yes I think so. Luis Garcia had his bad bays....but just as much and even more had his good days and when they were good they were very very good. And Lucas, yes he didn't start brightly, but those among us who are true Liverpool fans stood by him and could see the ability he had and it is now coming to fruition, you seem to be one of those fans you jumped on his back from day one, and if so, I really don't want you as a Liverpool fan, you are everything that is despicable about the modern day fan....short sighted and wanting everything yesterday. !!! Johnson is also now wanted by Real Madrid...ah sure they just buy crap players don't they....!!! Go become a Chelsea fan, as those are the plastic kind of modern day fans that would suit you down to the ground. !!!

I hope u guys who are slagging Benitez off have DVD of Liverpool playing CHL football so u can watch it cos it's going to b a long time b4 u c that again. IMO he overachieved and I would have loved to c him work with the new owners. The decision to replace CHL winner with R Hodgson from Purslow and Chelsea supporter M Broughton has to b worst in our clubs history.

Maybe your the one feeling hopeless, I certainly don't, it's apparent from what you have written that you didn't defend him but you speak for yourself. I did not want him gone and feel justified in that seeing as we have not gone forward in leaps and bounds since he left, at least on the field. However I can see what Kenny is trying to achieve right now and am hopeful he can materialise his vision for Liverpool. There is a very fine line between success and failure, I back the current regime and hope they fall on the right side. With time and patience they may do just that.

rafas time was up,he could do no more with the regime. purslow and broughton helped dispose of g&h,so i won't slate them totally.rafa did well but the slide started when he outrageously sold alonso,whilst trying to sign that carthorse barry!! i don't want him back,even with money available,i think he would still bring in the likes of josemi,ngog,etc. bar a couple of exceptions, he could be infuriatingly stubborn.

Downhill came soon after carrol and Henderson started gettIng games. Last season we wer in champions league contention thanks to Kenny. But soon after carrol returned frm injury it went down hill. Our nice football went out the window. Carrol will get better. But in time.

Ever yearned to get back with an ex girlfriend or an old flame - the feeling of what might have been , unfinished business etc - well it rarely ever works out and is usually a disaster - sadly I think the current 2nd time around romance with KD and LFC is following the above pattern so why keep looking back ? IMO we went as far as we were ever going to under Rafa especially under 'that' regime - yes it would have been amazing if he had FSG backing when he was here - but we must not keep looking back all of the time as its counter productive.

remember NUFC the season they got relegated - first it was king kev then that other geordie messiah shearer stepped in for the last 9 games of the season - epic fail .

we are better than that - we are LFC, we shouldnt be trying to relive our past - we should be striving to create a glorious future.

you twat yes rafa bought lots of players but he bought them from the charity shop, give him player sales plus 50 million he will have us challenging against the best and he'll also attract top players without champions league fact

Rafa created all the wealth at LFC with his continued success in europe.KD is taking us back to the dark ages and he doesnt deserve a single penny more.KD has like a spoilt child been given everything on a plate and like a spoilt child doesnt understand what hes spent due to him being given it all gift wrapped.Rafa brought all the money into the club with his amazing success which in turn increased revenue like never before.Even then he had to fight the Americans for every penny.KD to my mind is an egotstical selfish self adoring man,Rafa on the other hand had to fight for everything,hes humble genuine,honest and has his heart and soul in the future of LFC and not just in the past.Rafa is the future of LFC,FACT.

what a plank you are praising downing,the bloke wouldn't get into any top team,how he has ended up at liverpool is just a joke he must have drove 100mph when he heard kenny wanted him.None of the top 4 teams in the league bid for him,there is 1 great reason for it and that is DOWNING IS NOT GOOD ENOUGH he is a passenger on a sinking ship the sooner we get rid of downing adam the better

You have to understand that Alonso had 2 - 3 bad seasons in a row. That was what made Benitez to consider selling him. How was he to know that it provided a rocket up Alonso's ass and got him back to the form during the 1st 2 seasons

If I remember correctly it was rafa who bought kenny back and kenny sitting in the stands putting pressure on hodgson if kenny had class he should have gone and dragged rafa back when these owners gave him the task of finding the new manager instead he put his name forward and when he was told no he went and put poor roys name forward when he knew he would fail.THEN went and sat in the stands and sulked like a baby,what a snake he is he should have at least given respect to roy and stayed home,just like rafa is doing now.Can you imagine if rafa turns up to the games what it would feel like to kenny OUT OF ORDER in rafa we trust he doesn't manage with the heart but with his genius brain WHERE ARE YOU RAFAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Exactly...Alonso decided to get his finger out when it was likely that he was going to be sold....and it wasn't Madrid that were interested at that stage...it was Juventus who were in absolutely no great shapes at the time....!!! Then when he took his finger out Real decided to splash the cash on him.

He could do no more with the regime because he was getting no money from them.....the last two seasons under Benitez the nett spend was in minus figures meaning the squad wasn't being improved at all.....you can't blame Benitez for that. !!!

Downing was voted Player of the Year for Villa, ahead of Young, so you can't say Downing's a bad player. Only problem is, like Carroll / Adam / Henderson, he is not able to bring his form to the club. Only Bellamy, Enrique and Suarez had been able to do that.

not me my friend...wats that benitez thing!!?benitez is past nd he should be...praising benitez!!!my foot...dont forget the team which won the CL had many players which Houillier bought...2 years later, when benitez played the players that he bought against the same Milan, what happened??nd did u 4get Y alonso is not here today!!!???we do not need dalglish nor benitez...a new blood is needed

Rafa was on the verge of signing David Silva and Jovetic but the funds were "yanked". I think Torres would have stayed if Rafa was given sufficient transfer money. It is just really unfortunate that when Torres did a runner Kenny and Commoli's actual first choice targets: Llorente and Mario Gomes were not on the market. It is even more unfortunate that despite having Commoli, New Castle, Fulham and Everton signed better strikers for a fraction of the price.

his style of play was classy. He got players that were rated as some of the best in the "world". Tell me how many of houllier's players were categorically the best in the world. And he won with the Houllier's team through his tactics in the champions league. He made Liverpool play good football, even in his last season we didn't play as bad as we did this season. We should have won more games, but it was because Aquilani was coming back from injury, and Torres and Gerrard got injured on different occasions. I don't know where you got your tinted specs from but Benitez was tactically a better manager, better purchaser than Dalglish can ever be. Look at the Newcastle game, Dalglish can't put a formation down that performs. Benitez was all about cutting out flaws and finding weaknesses in opponents.

Aquilani was recovering from an ankle injury. Those are serious injuries, look at Wilshere for Arsenal, so he needed time to come back. And in the few games he did play he showed his class, all in a short time. We can apply this to Carroll, a player that is younger, came with an injury, bought for 15 million more, and how many more goals has he scored for Liverpool than Aquilani, how many more assists does he have more than Aquilani? I don't even need to dig up the facts to approximate that its isn't a big margin between both players.

Coliemac, Rafa had his faults just like any manager does but he was the best, tactically astute, modern manager we have had in decades (who understood the Club's values and made Liverpool his home) and now that we have lost him, we can appreciate him more. It's a case of the grass is always greener in the neigbour's garden. Anyway, we are posting on a site run by a chap who calls himself tormentor-in-cheif of the pro-Rafa Benitez cult so that says it all really. He maybe like Marmite to some but like him or hate him he has done far more good for the Club than bad and we were World beaters at one stage under him.

Had he had more control or freedom to spend on his "First Choice" signings (within reasonable range), without dilly dallying Parry, back stabbing Purslow and the debt piling G&H, we would be singing a different tune now.

hahaha. Arbeloa was a solid defender. Garcia was a more effective than Henderson, Cole, Downing and Adam all combined. Nothing special eh. Johnson? started off great with Liverpool, and he isn't that much of a liability, he is a problem to some extent but in no means a flop. Lucas was scapegoated all the time, showed more determination than Carroll, Adam and Downing. Henderson is in the same boat as Lucas, he just needs to increase his intensity because he has it mentally to work hard.

Well, Rafa has the right to talk. These Brits are embarrassing, they bitch all the time when Rafa has only 1 bad season, & the Reds are always in top 4. If that wasn't enough, how about this.. You prefer Downing, Henderson, Adams and Carrol, or Yossi, Aquiliani, Lucas, Mash, Alonso, Fowler, Crouch, Sissoko, El Nino, Morientes, Glen Johnson, Ngog, Babel, Dirk. Yeah, still bunch of silly guys said he waste money.. They don't take into consideration of net spend. Now, karma, just Dalglish costs over 40M. They are better than Yossi, and Lucas, only 10M. Mash only around 18M, Aquiliani is 17M, and proven in Roma & Juventus, & Kenny waves him, pretty smart... For Carrol, even Fowler, & Ngog bests him any day. Ngog is only 1.5M. How about Crouch, only 7M. 35M, what a insult to Suarez & Torres, & he is on a bench. The fact is Rafa players are wanted worldwide, & he acquires them very wisely, but look at what Roy & Dalglish did. I never say Rafa is good at man management, but he gets Liverpool top 4, and you won't have to clean the Balance Sheet like Kenny & Roy has installed, Carol, how much write down, close to 30M and the other guys will be even lucky to break-even. Look at how the players under him have their value increase, like Alonso, Mash, Torres, even Benny, Crouchie. I lost count, & King Kenny with Henry handing him over 100M in one go, mess it all up. What excuse, using the whole entire first 11 to beat Cardiff.. The whole entire Cardiff wouldn't cost 20% of Andy, & they have to do it on penalty. We got to be fair with Rafa, he is pretty good. Those British protectors, are bunch of narrow minded individuals, they only want the Brits, now they got it... What excuses left, Liverpool don't even have schedule to accommodate Europe.... Embarrassing

A lot of us never wanted him out. Who are you speaking for exactly? I think he would have done very well with the sort of transfer kitty Kenny was lucky to get. It is unfortuate that you can't appreciate what he did for this Club. Rafa has a proven track record at Valencia and Liverpool. You're probably the sort of fan who would love to see Rijkaard come in. What has he done since leaving Barca? He was sacked in the Turkish league. Out of respect for Kenny, I hope he gets another season but I fear the league results have been so bad as have the transfer dealings that anybody else would have been sacked already.

Never should have left, he had no money to spend, Aquilani was going to cement himself in the squad. And we needed cash to supplement the team, there was no cash so Benitez left, because fans like you would bash him when the team didn't perform instead of realizing that without the money he won't be able to compete. Benitez left a sinking ship, and people can say ya he wasn't loyal but in this business managers get sacked for not being able to turn in results or pressurized by fans. Benitez was working under the most difficult conditions, and Dalglish has worked under the best conditions, but now he has put himself in quick sand. Benitez would have this team playing well again. No doubt. Every team in the Premier League think they can beat Liverpool, because they know Dalglish can't make them fear us tactically.

First of all, he never had funds to compete, which is why he left. And if you call him a traitor, then would you easily betray him when he couldn't deliver champions league football with no funds. Fans like you would jump on the chance to get rid of him without looking at the conditions he was working under.

Thats how great Rafa was. Seeing potential like that. I never even heard about Carroll until he started playing for Newcastle first team last year, same with Kenny. But even then, people would probably be bashing Benitez if he did stay and bought him at that time. He would be no different to Ngog. Funny how people are willing to give him a chance because hes worth 35 million. But if he was bought for 2 million, I don't see people defending Carroll like they do now.

Yes we were sabotaged from the inside. Now player power and egos are an issue at Chelsea and City. There are rumours a couple of players at Liverpool tried to undermine Rafa in his last season. Lets hope we don't go down that road.

Get your facts straight. Rafa did not want to sell Alonso. Barry was merely cover in MF so that we can challenge in the league and Europe. It was always about having options until Lucas developed. We also needed to boost the number of home grown/British players. Alonso also had 2 poor seasons until there was talk of competition coming in. Anyway in the end it was Alonso's decision to go to Real Madrid (the most decorated Club in his home country) and we made almost 20 million profit on him. Don't forget who brough him in the first place....

Yes, one can only imagine what we could have achieved from the CL money+player sales including the 12 mil from Keane after the season we came in 2nd. We all know where that money went next. G&H were clearly happy as long as we got the CL money to reduce the debt instead of reinvesting the money back into the squad. What a shame!

Obviously it wont be the same, the fans like you keep on wanted to sack manager....just stick with King Kenny till end of season and we see how. Remember how many player we have sold versus player we bought into the club

More naive comments that do my head in. Rafa got us to the final despite having Houllier's squad minus Michael Owen with sound tactics. We beat Chelsea twice in the CL due to his tactics. We lost to Milan in the other final due to a flukey Inzaghi goal where the FK ricocheted off his head. But how did we get to that final??? Well I suppose you prefer being in 8th now than challenging for CL places or even the title. And new blood, well look what happened to poor AVB.

If Kenny was Roy Hodgson would we be giving him more time,or would everyone be critical.I think the latter would be the majority.No one is bigger than Liverpool,i dont like what i see happening in my club.We have being in transition since the 90's,when do we turn the corner?

Last interview openly shows a total lack of respect for a colleague and this is a fact. I suggest you to read the interview. He's trying to undermine his colleague Who is riding the storm. Not the typycal kind of behaviour I would expect from a Man I was used to respect. This is my point of view and If I'll get insults from this point of view, no matter the abuse. I don't have a problem with that.

Sorry, I saw the worst Liverpool team during Evan and Rafa's tenure. Rafa's team rotation and man management was the worst for a manager. And this from a fan for more than 30 years. Sticking to team tradition, even Shanks needed three years to overhaul a LFC team to a championship side. So give KK some time. Its only the right thing to do. Nobody was bitching when he first bought the players, now everyone seems to know the "solution" to the crisis it seems. Get a grip! Changing manager is never the solution. KK, in case some of you are ignorant, won the championship with two different teams. Not many managers can boast of that. And oh yes, we got our first silverware after 6 year. Memory is indeed short!

Nice to see some "Rafa - Cultists" in their best efforts to reverse the facts. The true is that Rafa had tried to make Xabi a surplus to requirements, and He was Xabi himself to admit the true in a long interview on LFC.TV, our OFFICIAL WEBSITE. I loved Rafa and I welcomed his arrival at the Club, but six years are gone, now it's time to move on. He's had his long long chance and now it's all over. Rafa is in the history books: time to move on. But it's always so funny to see how Rafa's army desperately refuse to see that Rafa is Man Who made some wrong decisions.

Its not a lack of memory, its more a lack of intelligence and systematic bias by a certain type of fan...

Fans who refuse to this day, to admit they were wrong in calling for Benitez to be sacked. Who continue with the most narrow and ridiculous criticisms against him in order to justify their opinions.All the while ingoring the many great things he did for this club.

If Rafa was as bad as you say, then we must have improved dramatically since he left.Care to list those improvements for us...

Bottom line is, he did well but probably should have done better. He had the resources to win the league, he came close a few times and scored 84 and 86 points .... no1 has done that before or since.

I agree he made a few questionable signings and his tactics at times were confusing , but he also brought us back to the big boy table, both with top players and consistent knock out European nights.

All in all I am happy Rafa was at LFC , and wish him all the best.

If i had a choice I don't think he is the guy we right now, KD has done well at times and he has learned an expensive lesson about the general quality of the British player...Give him one more season to get it right...City,Utd,CFC,Spurs are not going to get that much better, they all have their core players that they will add to....we need to concentrate on how we can get better both in personnel and tactically.

Rafa spent 240 million but 250 of that million came from player sales.Our transfer policy was first sell then buy.Kenny spent 120 million on players,it's about 60 million with player sales.And Dalglish spent that money on one year while Benitez spent that money on 5,6 years.You cant say Dalglish is better.When Torres is bought for 20 million,Mascherano for 17,Xabi for 10,Reina for 6,Arbeloa for 2,Skrtel for 5,Agger for 6,Lucas for 5,Kuyt for 10....he also brought huge starlets in the academy like Raheem Sterling,Suso,...etc.heck even Riera played better than Downing.also Dalglish has tried 100000 formations and hasnt found a starting lineup while Benitez's 4-2-3-1 was a set up that we were very hard to lose.he made a lot of mistakes in his transfers like selling Robbie Keane,buying an injury-prone Aquilani for 20 million,..etc..still Benitez>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>DalglishDalglish is a bad man for LFC right now,tell me a traitor,tell me whatever you want but i want him outFSG we need a real manager and not dalglish who doesnt know how to run the club rightBring back Benitez or bring Hiddink,Andres Villas Boas,..etcYNWA

It is embarrassing that we have to debate whether or not Kenny should go. Already this season AVB has been fired for not reaching expectations and Mancini could also be fired if he fails to reach his targets. We must be the only 'top 4' club in the league with ambitions and targets that change with the wind. The scary thing is if we finish 12th this year and 9th next season AFTER spending £200mil some Kennypool fans would still testify that this is 'improvement' and would plead for more time for their king.

If we're after failure Kenny will guide us there with his eyes closed whilst walking a mile long tightrope. Sad but true.

Harry Redknapp wanted Carroll at Spurs too, they had, reportedly, bid 20m for him and I'm sure there were quite a few other Prem teams chasing his signature. He wasn't shit at Newcastle, a lot of people seem to forget that and I'm sure, had he stayed, he'd have carried on his development and been a very good striker and England's number 9.

I work with a guy who has been coaching kids football in the North East for the past 30-odd years. i asked him about Carroll and he told me he was an "exceptional kid with bags of talent". You don't get crap overnight and, to give him the benefit of the doubt, I still think he can come good and here's what I reckon he needs to add to his game and take away;

More of;

Arrogance, swagger & belief. Look at any succesful striker from any team throughout history, they are borderline ego maniacs who believe they can do anything with a football and can burst the onion bag everytime they shoot.

Vision & awareness.A top striker has to be aware of where his team mates are at all times and be able to see a pass before it happens so they can get themselves in the positions necessary to receive the ball. This also applies to doing homework on the opposition defenders.

Conviction in his actions.Carroll seldom takes risks - Sunday's game when he was clean through was an example - he needs to take half chances and shoot on sight, a la Robbie Fowler.

Less of;

Hanging back. He's not a midfielder, he should be up the park, staying onside between the two centre halves so he can present a target for a through ball.

Half hearted challenges.How many times have we seen him jump with a defender and either lose out or mis place his header. It's easier to sell a dummy and make the defender commit then pick up the second ball.

Those stupid white boots.He falls over more than any other player I have ever seen because he has almost zero traction from his boot. GET PROPER STUDS!

It's not all about 'buying the right players' as such, the players bought need to play to the proper system and perform like they are supposed to.

Fully agree with you... People who need to have some sense in basic mathematics, some people say Rafa is wasteful. Ha..200 Million in 6 years, rather than 100 million in a year, needs to get a brain-X-Ray. Rafa builds quality, and he is Universal, not just somebody gets stuck in the British Isle, thinking that British Empire still rules one third of the world. Even if they do Rafa back, u get a guy like Arsene Wenger, Liverpool will definitely turn itself into Champions League Contender

Noone is perfect, neither Dalglish or Benitez, but look at the facts, Dalglish current squad was still able to remain barely in the top 10, u got to thank Rafa, Dirk is Rafa's man, Lucas is Rafa's man. So u prefer Downing, Henderson and Adams + Carrol, rather than Torres, Aqualiani, Babel, Crouch (Amazing), Fowler (awesome pick), Mash, Lucas, Benny, Luis Garcia. Yes, Robbie Keane is a bad pick, but he didn't cost 30M. How about Morientes, Sissoko. None of those guys have a price tag as ridiculous as Dalglish midfields (Downing for 20M / Henderson for over 15M), and Carrol for 35M (Is it on drugs).. Suarez and Torres should be in the 50M right, and Stevie G at least 40.. Fowler at least 20M. U got so point, its common sense, you don't like Rafa fine. He may not be the best coach, you are entitled for that opinion, but he is way better than Dalglish, or even if you put Arsene Wenger & toss him 100M, he probably get you a Champions League trophy with some change left.

Oh, I forgot to add Maxi too, Rafa knew what he was doing. Most of the players he add, even the worst one are better than Kenny. Remember, Ryan Babel, the guy who prefers to be a striker, did more than Carol by playing the wings. Is Downing world-Class, is Adams, World-Class, iS Henderson world-class, how about Carrol. If they are indeed that good, how come Liverpool can get beaten by teams with a budget less than probably 1% of its own squad value. I love Ngog, he only costs 1.5M, in which compare to Carol, Carol cost 23 times more, & what type of effort does the big man put in each game versus a French man. So, Kenny handed those Brits big paychecks, so the world should view them as at least good players. Go and ask around anybody and they will tell you they are nothing but barely average, not even half of Stevie G, but for Rafa's players, who wouldn't know Mash (Argentina Captain), Benny (Israel Captain), Alonso (Spanish midfield), Aqualiana (Italian International & even impressed John Henry), El Nino (Spanish International & Terrorize the EPL & Europe with Stevie G), Luis Garcia (Spanish International & energize Liverpool fans), Fernado Morientes (Spanish International). Even Glen Johnson, another Brit acquire by Rafa can terrorize defense from the back line, way more effective than Carol than on the front-line. So you may hate Rafa for his man-management, but at least he adds value to players and the club, and for Dalglish and Roy, everything is bad, lose to Northampton, to QPR, and win a pointless cup through penalty on Cardiff.... If you guys hates Rafa, and loves Kenny, enjoy. Soon, Liverpool may not even survive Everton.

Everyone seems to have forgotten what Dalglish did at Fulchester Rovers. He sold Mick Hucknall out of Simply Red and replaced him with the Queen Mother, then he insisted on playing her in a central midfield role when she's clearly an out and out winger. He let the Young New Mexican Puppeteer go for buttons to arch rivals Grimethorpe and moved Himmler on after one bad game against Arshole. Look at the team he left new manager Tommy Brown with - even Billy the Fish had been moved on.

We all need to take a breather me included, KK loves the club he gave his services and he gave them well. Rafa was a good manager he also gave us good service. The question everyone wants answered is who will take us back to the top, we all have our favourites, some want KK and some want Rafa. The truth is no one actually knows and we as fans are so angry about where we are that we just want change, looking at KK's history (as a manager) and comparing it to Rafa well i would have to say that Rafa wins. Now everyone looks at money, how much he spent, who cares if the owners have a problem than they will deal with that, so the amount is the owners business.Now the quality of player that comes in is the managers problem if a manager is willing to spend big than the quality in my books should be there from day one, i do not care what anyone says if you are truly world class than at the age of say 20 and up than you would be showing signs of that.I am sorry to say that KK's signings this year apart from Suarez have not been world class, now before any says why Suarez just let me say that he had an impact when he first started, what he has done before LFC was great, then there is the games for his Country.Now Rafa has made some bad signings as well but i do not think that they have been as bad for the price, but because we have had enough of seeing this great club become average (after signing 6 new players) we are all scared for KK to continue and we want some big names in the club and some immediate results we are screaming for a change (i am one of you) i fear that we need a manager not from the UK because LFC although one of the greatest footballing clubs in the world are becoming less attractive, so in saying all this we need a manager who can attract players that might come because of the manager and if that is Rafa then so be it, if it is Rijkarrd, AVB and who ever else than so be it. KK has sat doing nothing when the game needed change, for me when Newcastle made a change just after half time and put a striker on at 2-0 up and KK waited until approx 77min that was the end for me. He leaves Coates out of the game, Maxi out, Kuyt and not to give Sterling another go after the performance he gave was just wrong. I hope what ever happens we get a manager that can attract players just for being him because i am scared that the damage is too bad to attract top quality anymore, and i don't think KK has alot of trust in foreign footballers and if you want the quality that we are after than we need some foreign footballers in the middle and up front.

I read an article on the Tomkins Times the other day that said Benitez spent something like £245 million in 6 years at Anfield. (Not net spend). Well, Dalglish has spent almost HALF that in just one year in charge and we are eighth. Judge a manager by his judgement of players. There's no question who the winner is there.

Ah yes, the often touted anecdote of Sir Alex Ferguson in defense of Kenny Dalglish. Can I remind you how many other managers around the top five European leagues have not been good enough and have failed since Ferguson first started out at United. A lot!

Ferguson is a statistical anomaly, there is much more chance Dalglish will end up on the failure pile than join Ferguson in creating a dynasty.

Support Dalglish all you want, we should all show him respect at least, but I'm convinced we need a new manager, a new director of football (or none at all preferably) and to be rid of CHAD, C and A at the very least in the Summer.

Seriously, his comments were not that bad. Certainly a lot more tame and respectful than Aldridge. It's not like he's going to say everything's all fine and dandy when someone asks him and I thought he handled it respectfully.

I think Jamie has made it pretty clear he was not a fan of Rafa. But I think we can all agree Benitez would have at least done a better job with the money Dalglish has had. Let's not forget as well that we didn't know the full story of what was going on behind the scenes when Rafa was in charge. I don't think we'll ever know the real reason behind selling Alonso or the Robbie Keane fiasco. Some say Benitez lost the plot, but I'm convinced money played a big part and promises were broken.

You clearly have a selective memory. Hucknall was washed up by the time Dalglish sold him. He'd been sidelined with an achilles for most of his last season and scored only twice in the 14 appearances he made when he was fit. Billy the Fish's contract was up and he wanted to leave. Dalglish had no choice. I'll give you the pojnt about the Young New Mexican Puppeteer - that was a mistake as it left Fulchester without anyone who could run the channels with pace....and puppets.

Crap!! DO YOU EVEN WATCH THE GAMES SON??? Downing has created the 5th highest amount of chances in the entire league, If our strikers werent playing so poorly hed have 10-15 assists this season nd no _one would be jumping on the bullcrap bandwagon.

Benitez benefited from Houllier's team. He took apart the team when he realized there were no support from the two previous owners.

KK needs to refresh an old squad, and build one for the future. These young players need to play together often, and sacrificing a top 6 spot to get a team ready for the next few seasons is a smart move. Afterall, winning the Carling cup assured UEFA participation, and some extra cash (though not as lucrative as CL).

Also don't forget that KK provides a wish list, and Comolli is the one that actually decides on the new players who "matches his statistics". So far, we have not heard from Comolli about the statistics from the players he brought in. Comolli's silence is deafening.

Hang on a minute here, you're saying Kenny Dalglish is "an egotistical selfish self adoring man"? Do you actually know who this guy you're talking about is? Do you know what this man has done for this club - as a player, as a manager during his first stint (at 35 years old!)? Do you know what he did for the families of those who perished at Hillsborough? Or is that all 'history' now and it's to be forgotten?

Before you write your opinion, which you are totally entitled to, I'd suggest having a bit more respect for Kenny. Sure, the team is going through a bad phase just now, all teams do it, but does that give you the right to attack Dalglish, the person? No chance!

i think rafa should almost defenitley come back its almost like the team of 2004/5 hes got gerrard (i think can reach his best again under rafa, hyypia in agger, carra in kelly/skrtel

, finnan in johnson,risse in enrique,dudek in reina , hamman in lucas, kewell in bellamy plus suarez for cisse maybe he could turn carroll, n downing around so no crouchy players or kewell needed he could sighn our alonso in martinez or suso and bring pacheco to play garcia

i forgot coates much improved traore or biscan , cole could be smicer actually carroll for baros / crouch whats missing a morienties,warnock well we need a striker not ending carrolls career at lfc but a striker maybe soldado im in fairytale land now if rafa could get that with much more money start imagining titles and champions leuge

rafa - genius forgot about nunez, josemi,hecknoz and pongolle with money he could get much better versions pongolle is bellamy ,carragher in hecknoz , flanagan in josemi and suso for nunez oh yeah guthrie in coady however coady is much better imagine solado,suarez,carroll and bellamy as strikers, pacheco,cole and downing wingers ,gerrard,lucas,suso,martinez as midfielders,johnson,flanagan,enrique,wilson and robinson the full backs and at centre back agger,kelly,skrtel,coates and carra centeback reina and doni in gk. shelvey out on loan and hendo , kuyt and maxi out wings are stiill weak i suggest ben arfa as well